Usman Khawaja made progress towards being available for the day-night Ashes Test at the Gabba, but Australia are still assessing whether his back can handle a full five-day match. The 38-year-old, who missed batting in the fourth innings of the Perth Test because of back spasms, returned to the nets in Brisbane for a careful training session.Khawaja had suffered back spasms during the first Ashes Test in Perth. Monday’s training was his first hit since the Pirth Test. He remains short of full fitness with three days left before the second Test at the Gabba, cricket.com.au reported.
After light running drills on the Gabba outfield, Khawaja showed some discomfort during a net session of around 30 minutes with the pink ball. He only faced throw-downs from assistant coach Michael Di Venuto and played several pull shots on practice strips with uneven bounce.At one stage, Khawaja gave thumbs-up to physio Nick Jones, according to Brisbane Times. He batted for roughly half an hour, showing occasional discomfort but appearing more at ease than he did in Perth.He also kept batting for around ten minutes longer than what team doctor Leigh Golding had first signalled.Meanwhile, Travis Head said he is open to batting in any position as discussions continue over his role for the Brisbane Test. Head scored a century while opening in the Perth Test’s fourth innings after replacing Khawaja at short notice.“We’ve obviously talked about the replacement for David Warner, and I always threw my name up and always threw the option there. Obviously I do it in international white ball cricket. So, I threw myself as an option if that’s what was necessary for the team and best suited for the team. We’ve been in and out of that conversation a fair bit over the last two years. We’re back at it again. So, for me, it’s just about working out where Pat (Cummins), Steve (Smith), Ron (Andrew McDonald), Bails (George Bailey) and those guys see me best in the team and where I can best contribute and how we win games of cricket,” Head said as quoted by SEN.Marnus Labuschagne supported Khawaja ahead of the second Test. “Usman’s a high-quality player. You look at his record … what he’s done for Australian cricket, especially since he’s come back, he’s been super consistent, he’s been really the rock of at the top there,” Labuschagne told reporters, as quoted by cricket.com.au.The second Ashes Test starts on December 4 at the Gabba in Brisbane.
